by constructing two lock complexes,
one on the Atlantic side and another
on the Pacific side. The work also
calls for the widening of existing
navigational channels, excavating for
access channels to the new locks, and
a deepening of the channel system to
about 60 feet.
The project, which is expected to
double the Panama Canal’s total
capacity, will enable the canal to
accommodate ships built to carry a
maximum of 12,600 twenty-foot
equivalent unit (TEU) containers, up
from a ceiling of 4,400 TEUs today.
According to the Panama Maritime
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Multiple Entry Spirals The
Multiple Entry Spirals allow loads to
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Dual Spirals The new Ryson Dual Track Spirals are
the ultimate in space savings. Two tracks operate within one
spiral structure. Each spiral has a separate drive and operates
independently. Both tracks can go up or down and can be reversible.
Authority, 8. 4 million TEUs will transit the
canal in 2015, a sharp increase from the 6. 6
million expected to move through in 2010.
More traffic routed through the
Isthmus could mean less cargo entering
the West Coast ports. Retailers and other
importers with operations along the East
and Gulf coasts may prefer an all-water
routing that delivers containers to facilities relatively near their destinations and
does so at a lower per-unit cost than the
traditional method of offloading containers on the West Coast and moving them
hundreds or even thousands of miles via
rail intermodal service.
In a summer 2009 study, Jones Lang
LaSalle Inc., a Chicago-based real estate
company with a supply chain practice,
predicted the ports of L.A./Long Beach,
Oakland, Seattle/Tacoma, and Portland
would lose up to 25 percent of their existing cargo base to East and Gulf coast ports
in the decades to come. JLL says traffic
diversion will be caused by the expansion
of the canal and escalating competition
from Eastern ports seeking to leverage
that expansion to attract more of the
trans-Pacific container trade.
One port that appears ready to rumble
is the Port of Charleston, S.C. Port officials believe the canal’s expansion will put
up to 2 million TEUs in play and that its
47-foot drafts at the entrance channel will
be more than sufficient to handle containerships carrying up to 8,000 TEUs.
To meet anticipated demand, Charleston
says it is building a container terminal at
the city’s former naval base that will
increase container handling capacity by 50
percent. The 60-mile area around the port
will gain more than 20 million square feet
of production and distribution capacity
over the next few years, with 3 million
square feet expected to come online in
2009 alone, port officials say.
Quality and service come first at Ryson and we are the number one
spiral manufacturer in the USA. For application assistance or more
information, call or visit the industry leader at www.ryson.com.
300 Newsome Drive • Yorktown, VA 23692
Phone: (757) 898-1530 • Fax: (757) 898-1580
VERTICAL CONVEYING SOLUTIONS
Fears overblown
Not everyone believes the canal’s expansion spells big trouble for Los Angeles and
Long Beach. Curtis Spencer, president of
IMS Worldwide Inc., a Webster, Texas-based industrial property firm, says the
ports will suffer no more than 10 percent
market share erosion, a figure that
includes traffic diversion of 5 percent that
